A slightly more hopeful view of the Arab world's reaction from the International Herald Tribune:
"WASHINGTON It was an edifice conjured up in the mind and now collapsed." That was the opening line of a song by Um Kalthoum, the diva of Arab music. She sang the song after the defeat of Gamal Abdel Nasser of Egypt in 1967. The image makes as much sense in the Arab world today as it did 36 years ago."
The article ends with:
"People hope that this era of unbridled violence is coming to a close. The lesson of war has not been missed by ordinary Arabs. A cell phone and e-mail message traveling around the Arab world says the following: "Young Assad of Syria sent Bush a message telling him that if he wants him to go, he doesn't have to go through that much trouble. He can just send a text message on his cell phone."